Ice Cube

Ice Cube (aka O’Shea Jackson Sr.) balances music and acting now, but he rose to fame in the late ‘80s as a founding member of the seminal hip-hop group N.W.A. Speaking truth to power on their now-iconic 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, Ice Cube—along with other members Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and MC Ren—called out police brutality on the hit single “Fuck Tha Police,” among other racially charged songs about life on Compton’s violent streets. Cube broke with N.W.A. in 1989 over royalty disputes and released his debut studio album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, the following year. His output remained steady throughout the ’90s, but he also began building a film career, starring in such hit movies as Boyz n the Hood, Friday, and Barbershop. His son O’Shea Jackson Jr. portrayed him in the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.

A review of this year's California desert extravaganza, which featured grizzled vets like LCD Soundsystem and Guns N' Roses, rising upstarts such as Vince Staples and Kamasi Washington, and surprise guests including Rihanna and Kanye West.

With N.W.A’s biopic upon us, Eric Harvey explains how the gangsta rap originators’ work once acted as necessary counterprogramming to reality shows like “COPS” and how their mastery of media relates to our current moment of racialized police brutality.

Singer Steve Earle isn't so much a songwriter as he is a storyteller, and here he spins a few of his many yarns-- about Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, the Sex Pistols, and many more.

Gregg Gillis pens this week's Guest List, and he enthuses over Christina Aguilera and "Baby What a Big Surprise", reps for Dan Deacon's live set, and explains why he wants to learn to play guitar. [Interview: Tyler Grisham]